Wye Oak >> You look over my shoulder, distant, abstract

Wye Oak - "Spiral"

(Williams Street Records / Adult Swim, 2012)

On August 3rd, while pulling into the parking lot outside the Saints' facility in Metairie to watch an open practice, I heard this song on WTUL and just about lost my shit.  I called in and found out who it was, then asked the DJ if he was sure that it was really Wye Oak, since this song is totally different from their normal rustic alt-country sound.  He and I talked about how 4AD-ish it was, and I mentioned that it sounded a lot like the album Euphoria by the band Insides.  He said he hadn't heard any Insides, but would check them out.  The next night, the Oak opened for the dreadful Dirty Projectors at the House Of Blues.  I almost went just to see them perform this song, but I couldn't justify the cost of around $30.00, plus I would've lost all respect for myself if I had stood in the same room with the Dirty Projectors or their fanbase.

Wye Oak are named after the state-champion (that means largest) oak tree in Maryland.  R.I.P.  This song premiered as a free download at Stereogum, which is where I downloaded it, and it is still available there.  Singer / guitarist Jenn Wasner said on Stereogum "This track was written specifically for this Adult Swim series, but they didn’t provide any thematic or sonic guidance for the song. A lot of the music I had been working on independently at the time sounded something like this — so I felt like the Adult Swim opportunity was, as a standalone track, a great opportunity to experiment with some of these new sonic and rhythmic ideas in a low-pressure context. The song revolves around the idea of repetition and rhythmic interplay — parts that are fairly minimalist and circular that come together to form an almost hypnotic wash."  The song's stuttering ambient marimba finale strikes me as a clear homage to Tortoise's genre-busting "Djed."  Check out the passion with which impending indie heartthrob Wasner belted out this song on the same day I first heard it, meaning the night before they played in N.O.:

After seeing that video, I was absolutely kicking myself for not going to the gig.  But I'll see them when they come back to N.O. or B.R. as headliners.  If they can continue exploring this type of sound, I'd say they'll instantly be the most compelling band in all of indiedom.  You could say Wye Oak pulled a reverse Slowdive with this song, considering how Slowdive suddenly went from an electronic dream pop sound to a country-ish sound under their new name Mojave 3 in the mid-'90s.  Well, folks, the Oak is the new sheriff in town and they're ready to right Slowjave 3's wrong.  My only complaint is that the vocals in "Spiral" are hard to decipher due to the massive amounts of reverb and Wasner's breathy, innovative phrasing, but that actually helps the music to more dreamlike and disorienting.  For a not-so-accurate stab at them, go here.  I think she sings "Hearts have signed for(?) a contract: Constant contact" and then she definitely sings "You look over my shoulder / Distant, abstract."

You can download every digital single in the Adult Swim series for free here.

Jenn's new project, the hilariously-named Dungeonesse, is a full-on dance/synth thing, so hopefully they'll put out at least a few songs in the same vein as "Spiral."

View the best pic I took at Saints practice that momentous day here.

Tue. 3/12: Got an eye exam from a new doctor and then got contact lenses for the first time in a few years; had been wearing really scratched up old glasses.  It was like seeing the world in HD and I was somewhat in shock for the rest of the day / week.

Sat. 3/16: Went to the spring Record Raid and talked to the usual music buddiez but didn't see the person I hoped would be there, so I was pretty depressed the rest of the day.  In my haul: School Of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire (2xLP on swirly gray vinyl), Broken Water - Whet (LP on translucent green vinyl), Steve Reich - Reich Remixed (2xLP), Dead Leaf Echo - Truth (EP), Niki And The Dove - Instinct, Crowded House - Temple Of Low Men, Joan Armatrading - Greatest Hits, Frank Ocean - Channel Orange, Toro Y Moi - "So Many Details" promo single, Mary Timony - The Golden Dove, TEEN - In Limbo.  Bought some vitamin B-12.

Thur. 3/21: Went to the Alicia Keys / Miguel concert at New Orleans Arena with Em, Ashley, and Ashley's mom.  Was stunned at Em's new car that she bought a few days earlier.  Almost wore my Glish t-shirt, but donned a long-sleeve shirt at the last minute.  Only saw Miguel's last 3 songs due to a ticket snafu, so I dunno if he played my fav. song of his, the future #1 hit "Don't Look Back".  He finished with an extended rendition of his mega-hit "Adorn."  Saw Hornets star Eric Gordon in the drink line; probably should've shook his hand or something since he will surely leave as a free agent soon.  Alicia brought her A-game despite the fact that the arena was about half full.  (Everyone on the upper level got a free upgrade to the middle level.)  Seeing her perform "Un-Thinkable" while bathed in orange lighting was one of the top 10 concert moments of my life, and I was pleasantly surprised at how berserk the crowd went when she did an old fave of mine, "Diary."  Maxwell dueted with her via a pre-recorded video segment shown on the screen behind her.  She played for almost 2 hours, meaning about twice as long as when I saw her in '04.  Afterwards, I hurried over and absorbed the end of a hushed and beautiful Benoît Pioulard show at the Circle Bar by myself.  A rude bartender tried to throw shade when I mentioned the concert I had just seen up the street, but I still stupidly tipped her a dollar.

Fri. 3/22: Decided to do the "be a tourist in your own town" thing... Well, in my previous hometown at least.  Went to Barrister's Gallery at its new location on St. Claude (used to be inside of or next to Zeitgeist Theatre on Oretha Castle Haley) and saw some very impressive avant-garde stuff; got a poetry book at Maple Street Book Shop at the N.O. Healing Center; got some cool stuff at Euclid Records (Acetone LP, Cul De Sac 7", Lansing-Dreiden CD); got a thyme plant at Harold's; played basketball at Delgado for 2+ hrs until dark; watched March Madness.

Sat. 3/23: Went to Slidell on a whim and scored a book about Ani Difranco at Goodwill.  Man, I had forgotten how much she once meant to me, and how endearingly funny she was/is, but flipping through a few pages in this book brought it rushing back.

Planets with similar climates: Cocteau Twins - "Road, River And Rail" (1990), Insides - "Distractions" (1993), Beach House - "Wild" (2012), Lush - "Undertow" (1993), Twin Sister - "The Other Side Of Your Face" (2010), Grimes - "Be A Body" (2011).

Ultracherry Violet >> Somebody put me together

Ultracherry Violet - "Post Wing-And-Prayer"

(Bedazzled Records, 1994)

Just a kewl instrumental shoegaze / post-rock voyage, with one of the sickest basslines ever (starting right after the 4-minute mark).  The bass also has that nice round, "fat," undistorted sound that I prefer.  Other examples of bands with this bass sound include Bark Psychosis, Hovercraft, Unwound, Bleach, and Poem Rocket, which coincidentally happen to be some of my all-time favorites; as in: bands to whom I'd donate a kidney with no questions asked if they ever needed one.

I bought this CD, I Fall To Pieces, used in the $2 or $4 clearance rack at the Mushroom in the early '00s, partly due to it being on Bedazzled.  The packaging is very artsy, with translucent, vellum-esque paper and a definite Factory / 4AD aesthetic, which is not surprising, since Bedazzled always wanted to be the U.S. 4AD or Factory.

While doing some research for this post, not expecting to find much, I found out about a 5-song demo tape UlVi released in 1992, which someone is currently selling on eBay.  Cool find.  But I was more amazed to find out about the long, strange tale of their drummer, Danny Ingram.  Read all about it here.  Summary: He met the Clash at a '79 concert in Ontario and was urged by Joe Strummer to form his own band; was in some D.C. harDCore bands in the '80s, most notably Youth Brigade; co-founded gothy post-punkers Strange Boutique (and Bedazzled Records); briefly joined Swervedriver on drums after their drummer fled at the Canadian Border on their '91 tour; appears in their "Never Lose That Feeling" video (as I've mentioned before, it's my #2 favorite song ever, and my #1 favorite shoegaze song ever); co-founded Ultracherry Violet; played in some other bands.
I'm printing everything he says about UltraVio here for posterity, just in case that A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed blog ever goes kaput without warning, like so many music blogs do:
"I started playing in Ultracherry Violet with my friends Dan Marx and Dugan Broadhurst shortly after the demise of Emma Peel. I loved this band. It was very much an extension of the sort of shoegaze thing that I'd been doing in Swervedriver and it was very much in my musical wheelhouse. I really thought that we had some great, original songs. But I quickly became really frustrated that the band was gaining no traction. It was either late '93 or early '94 and we were playing a show at The Black Cat. I think there were maybe 30 or so people in attendance. My frustration reached critical mass and I pulled a Keith Moon on stage. Throwing my drums at Nick P., the sound man, and threatening bodily harm to anyone who came near me. I'd had it with drumming. I made up my mind that night that I was done with it. And to make sure I would have no second thoughts, I did my best to demolish my poor, beautiful Gretsch drum kit. I was convinced that was it. I was in a new relationship, my life was starting to turn around in different ways, and I wanted to make a break with the past. That lasted about a year. I didn't touch my drums from that night until about 11 months later. Steve Willet called -– he had taken over Bedazzled records (the label that Monica and I started to release Strange Boutique music). He decided he wanted to release a CD of Ultracherry Violet. I'd mellowed out quite a bit in the intervening time, thanks to my new partner and future wife, Sally. Dan, Dugan, and I talked it over and decided to do it. We lugged our gear up to a dilapidated warehouse in a run-down part of Baltimore to record our CD. It had been so long since I'd played that my hands quickly blistered and started bleeding. I polished off nearly 3/4ths a bottle of Jack Daniels to try and steady my nerves and dull the pain of holding the sticks. We recorded all the songs in one day, but by the time we got to the last two -- "Mexico Song" in particular -- I could barely grip the sticks. My blisters kept bleeding and they kept slipping out of my hands. Still, we did all the songs in one take. There are 3 or 4 songs on that CD of which I'm really, really proud. The production is all over the place, but you can really tell that Dugan wrote some great songs... and Dan was really imaginative on the bass."

Indeed, the bass grooves and radioactive guitar tones on this album could be called seminal in the history of U.S. shoegaze... if anyone had actually bought the CD, that is.  I believe Bedazzled Records went out of business a few years after the album came out, and the Violets never made any music videos to my knowledge.  Note that Ingram doesn't even mention the demo tape in the interview.  The one song I've heard from it, "Wayve", is pretty gothy and primordial.

UnFun Fact: According to UlCherVio's guitarist, tracks 3 and 6 are the same song ("Losing My Friends") because of an error by someone or an error at the CD pressing plant.  So apparently, the only place to hear "Remember" is here, where said guitarist left his comment.

Pic taken from the website mentioned above; photographer, venue & date unknown

I always feel the need to explain my post titles for instrumental tracks.  This one is a line from Faith No More's classic "Falling To Pieces", which I thought of when rolling around the album title I Fall To Pieces inside my head for a few million nanoseconds.  (That video is very important to me, since it's one of a handful of songs/vids that got me into rock / "alternative" rock music in '91/'92, when I was strictly a rap head.)

Thurs.: Saw The Hunger Games in Houma, despite having only read about a third of the book.  Felt the campy overtones of most of the adult male characters detracted from the film's impact.  Played for a while at a basketball court I found, in 90º heat, in my Reggie Miller jersey which I recently dug out, yet dudes still called me "Larry Bird."  I think one called me "Reggie Bird," which I found quite creative.  The Pacers blew out the favored Heat that night.

Breasts lead to arrest of Anonymous hacker

Planets with similar climates: Southpacific - "Blue Lotus" & "Automata" (1999), Bright Channel - "Interception" (2005), Swervedriver - "Never Learn" (1992), Poem Rocket - "Contrail de l'avion" (1994), Unwound - "Abstraktions" (1993), Colfax Abbey - "Shanesong" (1995), Tamaryn - "The Waves" (2010).

Trans Am >> All alone with my futurelove

Trans Am - "Futureworld"

(Thrill Jockey Records [U.S.] / City Slang Records [Germany], 1998)

Note: I wrote most of this last September, but couldn't post it because that was California Month, so here it is.  One of the reasons I'm doing it now is that I recently stumbled upon & bought a 1976 movie called FutureWorld at a thrift store.  Another reason is that I realized the bassline starting at the 4:30 mark was probably inspired by / stolen from the opening guitar chug in This Heat's "Horizontal Hold."  (See previous post.)

After a few unassuming retro post-rock / deconstructed-metal LPs with sarcastic synth splatters, Trans Am reprogrammed their algorithms to finally allow for vocals and true song structure.  Their recipe came to terrific fruition on their 1999 album Futureworld, whose title was, I assumed, a reference to CAN's album Future Days.  But like I said above, I'm now pretty certain it referred to that movie.  This one goes out to Joey Buttons & Kathi.  I bought lots of cool CDs from their booth at the Record Raid in March, and it turned out they were also at the '99 Trans Am concert I will be talking about below.  [Update: Oops; only Joey was at it.]  This album came out in early '99, so I dated the song 1998, the year it was recorded.  This is the most effort I've ever put into a post, so I hope somebody gets something out of it...

The song's greatness is pretty self-explanatory, so there's not much to say here, other than to point out that it's a song about the isolation that people will feel as we become more bogged down by gadgetry that supposedly allows us to stay more interconnected.  Sound like 1999?  2012?  Well, imagine how it'll be in 2050, 3000, or 5000.  (5000?  Yeah right... I'll give you a million dollars if humans even make it past 2200.)  Sebastian "Seb" Thomson is simply one of the best drummers in history.  You can tell he's heavily influenced by Jaki from CAN, yielding that style that is uniquely choppy & funky, yet sleek & robotic.  He probably wears a shirt less frequently than Dave Navarro or Matthew McConaughey.  When the song slows down at about the 4:20 mark and shifts into a sinister, "prowling" mode, it's just the coolest thing ever.  I think Nathan sings "the falling snow" during the second half, but the vocoder is much more heavily used in that half, so your guess is as good as mine.  The music video was edited down by 2.5 minutes, omitting most of the ending, and sucked in many other innovative ways too:

Fun Fact: Yes, that's Ed Helms, later of The Daily Show, The Office, and The Hangover, in a cameo appearance on banjo.

As far as other tracks on this album are concerned, "Television Eyes" (whose title is a reference to the Stooges' "TV Eye") and "Cocaine Computer" (please, folks, no jokes about Whitney Houston's Facebook account) are unquestionably the best.  In fact, I struggled for a long time deciding whether to post "Futureworld" or "Television Eyes," and had to look to my orb for guidance.

The early '99 Thrill Jockey mailorder catalog has this very succinct sales pitch for the album: "Can you say vocoder?  Sure you can – VO CODE R.  Lawful evil beats, nature documentaries, car chases and rock and roll anthems."

Jonathan Bunce of Eye Weekly gave the album a 5-star rating, and said "The world's most forward-looking rock band has created the definitive millennial document. Forget the false hopes and fears surrounding the three big zeros -- this is the sound of technocracy collapsing into banality. 'Sitting alone in my future home / Fax machine, telephone / Phonograph, gramophone,' sings Nathan Means on Futureworld's drone-rockin' title track, with a gentle melancholy that would sound alienated even if it wasn't processed by a vocoder. Yes, the fourth Trans Am disc is the first to feature vocal stylings and embrace pop melodies -- which enhances, rather than dilutes, their conceptual electro-rock assault. On first glance, the trio seems to have turned into Kraftwerk, with Teutonic titles such as 'Am Rhein' and the motorik melodics of 'Runners Standing Still' -- one imagines them waiting out Y2K in a Berlin bunker with only Six Finger Satellite for company. But there's accessibility, depth, humor and chaos colliding here, from the more-bounce-to-the-ounce bleepery of 'Cocaine Computer' to the aggressive fuzz-bass destruction of 'City in Flames' to the lighter-in-the-air finale of 'Sad and Young.' Just as last year's The Surveillance had the final word on urban paranoia, Futureworld says more about the sci-fi dystopia we live in than any Hollywood blockbuster ever could."

My Trans Am timeline:
First read about them in Nov. 1996 in a Thrill Jockey mailorder catalog
Got their debut album Trans Am on vinyl in March '98
Missed them live a month or so later at the Mermaid Lounge in New Orleans due to having to cram for a test that night; swore I'd catch them the next time out
Read a glowing review of Futureworld in Mar. '99 in Spin*
Finally got to see them in May '99 (with lame openers Pan Sonic and The Fucking Champs) at the Mermaid
Got Futureworld on vinyl in 2005

*I also bought Moonshake's Dirty & Divine that day at that store

Note: Local instrumental prog / post-metal band Weedeater (not the stoner metal Weedeater from North Carolina) were for some reason replaced on the bill by The Fucking Champs.
I never got to see "our" Weedeater; check out this clip (probably from '94 or '95, based on the Dead Eye Dick video teaser at the end) of them.  Trans Am's first album sounded a lot like this.

At the concert, they played a couple of vocoder-ed songs, hence they played "Futureworld" and "Television Eyes," the two best songs on the album.  And I remember someone in the audience shouting out "Illegal Ass!," which I later learned was a song from one of their obscure EPs.  Here are pics from that show, taken by me and Andrew Mister on my Kodak disposable camera; sorry for the small file sizes:

A Loyola student was filming Trans Am and projecting the images in real-time onto a screen behind them while they played.  This must have been a digital camcorder, because the images were being altered in various ways to make the band look like computer-animated drawings and/or robots.  Unfortunately this did not show up in the pics because the flash drowned it out.  As you can imagine, I would give anything for a video of this gig!  Nate was sporting an all-gold basketball uniform for some reason... Coincidentally, the Washington Bullets/Wizards briefly changed their main jersey color to gold several years later.  For good measure, here's a pic of Finnish minimalist techno "band" Pan Sonic (f.k.a. Panasonic) playing their "music" while standing behind lots of expensive equipment:

I never saw Trans Am again, even though they came through here a few more times.  They toured arenas(!) opening for Tool in late 2007, and I actually almost went to see one of those dates, but I had not paid any attention to either band for about five years, so I skipped it.  Futureworld was reissued on LP with remastered sound and free digital download (containing two rare tracks) in late 2011.

Monday, Apr. 30: Saw Dayna Kurtz at the Hi-Ho Lounge; got there late and only saw the last 30 or so minutes.  There were only about 20 people there.  Like most folk singers with an affinity for New Orleans (Ani Difranco comes to mind), she has allowed NOLA's music to influence her recent music for the worse.

Tuesday, May 1: My dad had knee arthroscopy, so we helped him with icing it, etc.  Dropped off a few trees at Parkway and had an impromptu conversation with Haley (sp.) for around 2 hours.  She works for that organization and I just volunteer there; she recently put in all the native trees around the "Big Lake" in City Park by the art museum.  I showed her a separate farming plot a block away that she had never been to, which kind of blew her mind.  She signed me up to do a long-term project with her that will involve us designing and planting a fruit orchard for some new school in New Orleans East.  It's kind of a thrill when an attractive, much younger lady follows one around and writes down one's botanical musings on her notepad for a few hours, but I didn't let it go to my head.  Okay, I did, but who wouldn't?  It was one of those "I've got the brawn, you've got the brains" kind of things.
Afterwards, went to Home Depot a few blocks away and saw a very rude older white lady verbally accosting a black male H.D. employee (and a white male one, who soon walked away and left the other guy to fend for himself) for a long time about something he had no control over.  Specifically, light bulbs.  Sample gripe: "You people who work at Home Depot are almost as bad as the ones who work at Lowe's nowadays."  Reported her b.s. to a store manager, and mentioned that if it were my store, I'd kick her out.  Shot hoops at the Annunciation St. court, and then, for the first time ever, at the NOPD station's court on Magazine.  The latter was a bit difficult because the rims are a little too high (some courts do this to discourage dunking, which damages rims) and were double-thickness (which makes the ball bounce wildly on even a slightly-errant shot).  Got dad some chocolate with bacon in it at La Dulce Vita.  Had New Girl Night with Em, mom, dad, Vanessa.

Wed., May 2: Despite a sudden rainstorm, I stopped off at a small nursery on the Westbank that I almost never go to.  Ended up talking to the employee for about an hour about tons of stuff after she asked me "Want a free tomato plant?" in the greenhouse.  Let's see, we talked about cacti, tomatoes, mushrooms, music (she used to have punk bands play at her apartment), tattoos, asparagus ferns, atheism, Russian sage, etc.  I showed her that the white petals of the Pineapple Guava tree look, feel, and taste like marshmallows, which she was pretty impressed by.  Definitely my dream girl, and I think she spoiled me for all other females in the future...  (And of course, the rain magically stopped right after I walked in.)  And to top it all off, the last song I heard on the radio (WTUL) right before turning my car off and going in was a song that I later found out was "Endless Summer" by this Aussie band called The Jezabels.  Kind of a mash-up of Kate Bush, U2, and Sunny Day Real Estate.  My point is that it's a really dramatic song that seems tailor-made to lead into something great, kind of like the boombox scene in Say Anything.  So overall, it was like a scene out of a movie: I hear that song in my car while it's raining; something impels me to go into a plant store; the rain stops to make way for the "endless summer"; I meet The One and we hit it off.  And knowing my luck, I probably never see her again...  But for me, a great convo is better than sex, and probably less grueling than a marriage.  She's a big fan of mushrooms and '70s psych music, so I made a mental note to give her a CD-R of Amanita by Bardo Pond.

Later that day, I planted my Mayhaw tree in Vacherie during another bout of rain as the sun went down.  Watched a bunch of videos by EatTheWeeds, which are always fascinating, until the wee hours.

Over the past few days, I've planted a Viburnum dentatum (Arrowwood) and Lyonia lucida (Fetterbush), as well as those free tomato plants.  Deciding if I want to accept some free tickets to Jazz Fest today from my sister; the only good act is the Foo Fighters, but they're playing for 2 full hours, and I recently became obsessed with their song "Best Of You."  Saw them in '97, and that gap of years would usually preclude me from seeing the same band nowadays; but they've had a ton of good singles since then.  Dave Grohl's semi-ironic "metal warrior" posturing really sticks in my craw, though, and it's gonna be 95º heat index today with possible rain.  Decisions, decisions...

In honor of heat, humidity, my dad's knees, and film cameras, here's me, Em & dad on a pier on the Mississippi coast in mid-1990.  The fam was tagging along with him en route to one of his many triathlons that he did ca. 1990-92.  He's 38 in that pic.  I was wearing my LSU Basketball Camp t-shirt which I had just gotten weeks earlier.  Shaquille O'Neal signed the back of it at the camp right after a breathtaking LSU intrasquad scrimmage.  That's the only athlete autograph I've ever requested or received; unfortunately I never took a pic of it before throwing the shirt away a few years ago.

Yes, we threw them back

Planets with similar climates: Simple Minds - "70 Cities As Love Brings The Fall" (1981), Add N To X - "Metal Fingers In My Body" (1999), Satisfact - "First Incision" (1996) & "Triple Deck" (1998), The Horrors - "New Ice Age" (2009), Mocket - "Un-Man" (1998), The Sound - "World As It Is" (1984), probably some stuff by Tubeway Army.

The Make-Up >> I'll throw the first stone you put in my hand

The Make-Up - "I Want Some"

(Giant Claw Records [Australia], 1998 / K Records, 1999)

The once-beehived Michelle Mae proves why she's one of the illest bassists of the century here.  To hear another example of her bass ways, listen to "Type-U Blood," "Don't Step On The Children," and "The Bells."  Despite her ice-queen persona, or perhaps because of it, she was the undisputed indie rock sex symbol of the mid to late '90s, and is now a yoga instructor.  I unfortunately missed a Make-Up gig in New Orleans on Aug. 15, 1997, for reasons which I'd rather not divulge here.  I never liked their name until I realized it has several different meanings: to tell a lie; stuff worn on the face; one's fortitude/character. I can't think of a better song that features handclaps.

I got both of Nation Of Ulysses' albums in the early '00s, but never really connected with them.  NOU and The Make-Up were pretty hit-and-miss, but each had some gems.  This song was released as a single on an Australian micro-indie called Giant Claw in '98, and then on the band's singles / rarities compilation called, fittingly, I Want Some the next year.  I finally bought that CD this past December; Ian said in an interview in horrible local music zine Antigravity that it's going to be reissued this year.

Megan Fox being bothered by a young Daniel Johnston at an airport

Ian & Michelle's more recent band was called the Scene Creamers.  Here's a bumper sticker on a car parked in front of me at the Annunciation Street basketball court last week:

Fri. 13th: Dropped off some plants (Quercus virginiana & Agave desmettiana) at Parkway Partners right before going to French Quarter Fest.  Was given a beautiful Lyonia lucida and Echeveria 'Ruby' as thanks.  That made my day.  I gave away 7 plants/trees this week, so I guess I earned those 2 in return.  Found out the hard way that the FQF now bans bikes, but the nice security lady offered to watch over my bike, so I bought her a Bananas Foster and a fish taco wrap as thanks.  Missed local mad scientist weirdos Consortium Of Genius (C.O.G.) due to getting there late.  Saw Sasha Masakowski (w/ guest Khris Royal on sax on a few songs), brass-rock band Magnetic Ear (covered Nena's "99 Red Balloons" and Nirvana's "In Bloom"), Mynameisjohnmichael (3 songs), Pine Leaf Boys (2 songs), & probably some others.  Was stuned to find the Comsat Angels' album Land on vinyl at Peaches Records for only $5.  I only got here about once a year because they're really overpriced, but I may have to start going more often.  Bought a little silkscreened(?) print by an artist named Jack Wittenbrink at Jackson Square.  Bought School Of Seven Bells' 2nd CD at Skully'z; Scott was shocked when I told him I saw them, since he didn't even know they were coming through on tour.  Went into a little market in the Marigny that just had a sign saying "Market" outside and got some great food.  I coincidentally parked my car literally at the site of the famous Plessy v. Ferguson incident on Press Street.
It was funny when the announcer repeatedly called Sasha Masakowski (Maz-uh-KOW-skee) "Sasha Maskatowski" (Mass-kut-OW-skee), generating much stifled laughter from her and her band.

Sat. 14th: Spring Garden Show at City Park.  Geared up for this one for a long time and was not disappointed. Bought a threatened (that's one step below endangered) species called Litsea aestivalis (Pond-spice).  Also got one each of: Viburnum dentatum, Eryngium yuccifolium, Hydrangea quercifolia, Leptospermum scoparium, Vaccinium darrowii (for my neighbor Don), and Pityopsis graminifolia.  I regret not buying a $6 praying mantis egg case which will supposedly hatch out over 200 babies to eat bugs in one's neighborhood.  Talked to legendary local plant expert & author Dr. Charles Allen for a few minutes.

Today, Mon. 16th: Saw a guy who was clearly driving on drugs go right through two red lights.  His rear lights were intentionally blacked out (totally illegal) in order to look cool, and the whole truck was painted primer gray, a common thing done to a recently-stolen vehicle.  The truck was slightly lowered and had gigantic rims, of course.  The dude was white.  He was talking on a cell phone and weaving through traffic without signaling.  I tailed him for a while and found out where he parked so I could call in to the cops.  I thought it was an apartment complex until I looked and saw a sign saying that it was a drug treatment clinic.  So this little punk was surely on parole and going in for a mandatory drug test; hopefully they busted him and took away his driver's license.  Luckily he didn't kill anyone.  Just had to vent about this, sorry.  Also have to complain about the quality of the Eastbound And Down series finale last night.

The last few days have been pretty great for the Hornets.  They were bought by Tom Benson; they've won four games in a row; David Stern awarded NOLA the 2014 All-Star Game.  The only semi-bad news is that Benson said today that he's gonna change the team's name.

Enjoy this truly mind-blowing series of tweets sent by Jose Canseco the other day, which will be ruminated upon by scholars for decades to come:

Graft punk: Breaking the law to help urban trees bear fruit

Koch brothers, worth $50 billion, sue widow over $16.00 of nonprofit's stock
Related: Online campaign to boycott Koch Industries grows

When tankers tell the truth

Planets with similar climates: Throwing Muses - "Vicky's Box" (1986), Moonshake - "Séance" (1993), !!! - "Intensify" (2000), George McCrae - "I Get Lifted" (1974), Lyn Collins - "Think About It" (1972).